Container for coiled ribbons and the like



Jan. 15, 1952 w, EwALD 2,582,422

CONTAINER FOR COILED RIBBONS AND THE LIKE Filed May 28, 1949 20 f I5INVENTOR. GEORGE w. EWALD ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 15, 1952 UNITED, STATESPATENT OFFICE CONTAINER FOR COILED mesons AND THE LIKE George W. Ewald,Short Hills, N. J. Application May 28, 1949, Serial No. 95,928

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to an improved container adapted for use inpackaging coiled articles such as ribbons, tapes and the like.

' It is a general object of the invention to provide a simple andinexpensive container which will eifectively serve to maintain thearticle in a clean and sanitary condition and which will allow theobserver to determine the nature and color of the article byinstantaneous visual inspection without the necessity of handling andopening the container.

Coiled articles such as ribbons andtapes present a difficult packagingproblem because of their natural tendency. to unwind. An assortment ofsuch articles is ordinarily kept in retail establishments in opendisplay and the articles consequently become soiled, unsightly andpartially uncoiled as a result of handling by sales personnel andprospective customers.

Accordingly, it is an cb'ject'of the present invention to provide acontainer which will prevent the coiled article from unwinding and whichis constructed and arranged in such a manner as to allow a terminalportion of the coiled article to be disposed in visible position so asto permit easy determination of the nature and color oi the housed,coiled article.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a container of thecharacter indicated which may be constructed readily from a single,unitary carton blank.

An additional object of the invention is the provision of a container ofthe character indicated which is provided with a closure flap having aviewing window and which is further provided 1 with means for positivelysupporting a terminal portion of a coiled article in viewing positionimmediately underlying said closure flap so as to be easily inspected atall times.

The foregoing objects as well as additional objects and advantages ofthe invention will be readily apparent in the course of the followingdetailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingswhich illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and where-Fig. l is a plan view of a blank from which the container may be formed;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the blank of Fig. 1 in partiallyassembled condition;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the container in assembled conditionwith a coiled article retained therewithin, the terminal portion of thearticle being disposed on a supporting panel for inspec- 2 tion throughthe window of the closure flap of the container; 7

Fig. 4 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the closureflap in closed operative position with the terminal portion of thearticle visible through the window of the closure flap; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3 illustrating theindentation or slot in the supporting flap through which the terminalportion of the coiled article maybe extended.

Referring now to the drawing in greater detail, the container may beformed from a blank of cardboard, fiberboard or other suitable materialwhich is generally designated by reference numeral II] in Fig. 1. BlankI is formed with afront panel H, a side panel 12, a rear panel l3 and aside panel l4 interconnecting said front and rear panels. Front panel IIis provided with an integral bottom panel l5 having an extension tab 15ato be secured to a respective portionof rear panel l3 in assembling thecontainer. Side panels l2 and M are provided with lower extensions Inand Ma respectively which are to be secured to respective portions ofbottom panel. l5 for assembly purposes. Side panel 12 is furtherprovided with an integral extension tab It which is secured to arespective portion of rear panel 53 in setting up the container. Thestructure thus far described is well known and conventional.

An important feature of the invention resides in the provision of meansfor supporting the terminal portion of the coiled article housed by thecontainer in visible position immediately underlying a window openingformed in a closure flap of the container, so that the terminal portionmay be inspected instantaneously by an observer at all times. In orderto achieve this purpose front panel I l is provided with an integral topsupporting panel ll having an extension tab Ila which is to be securedto a respective portion of rear panel [3 in setting up the container.Supporting panel I! is provided at one end thereof with a slot orcut-out 18 in order to allow protrusion therethrough of the terminalportion of the coiled article, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 5. Aclosure flap I9 is preferably formed as an integral extension of rearpanel l3 and is provided with a tab 20 insertable within a slot 28 inorder to releasa'bly engage the closure flap in operative closedposition illustrated in Fig. 4. Closure flap [9 is formed with a windowopening 22 which may be provided with a transparent covering 23 of anysuitable covering.

Thus, when the container has been set up in the form shown in Fig. 3 itforms a closed compartment for the coiled article R, said compartmentbeing defined by front panel i i, rear panel 13, side panels :2 and I4,bottom panel I5 and top panel H. The terminal portion 24 of the coiledarticle R may be protruded through cut-out E2 in order to be disposed inviewing position on the top surface of supporting panel H, as shown inFig. 3. The terminal portion 24 may be held against displacement fromits viewing position by a. piece of adhesive tape 25 or in any othersuitable manner. After the terminal portion 24 of the ribbon, tape orother coiledarticle has been disposed in viewing position on supportingpanel i: and the closure flap i9 has been secured in the positionillustrated in Fig. 4, said terminal portion may be readily inspectedthrough the window opening 22 in said closure flap.

By reason of the described construction and arrangement, it is readilyapparent that it is not necessary to open the container in order todetermine the nature and color of the contents of the article. housedtherewithin. A large number and variety of coiled articles may bestacked neatly in a compact space in the retail establishment and theprospective customer may easily select any desired article or articlesby visual insp.ec-. tion. The articles do not become soiled or unwoundas a result of excessive handling.

Since certain modifications may be made in the container of the presentinvention without de-. parting from the scope thereof, it is intendedthat all matter contained in the foregoing specification and shown inthe accompanying drawing be in. terpreted merely as illustrative and notin a limiting sense.

What is claimed. is:

l. A container for ribbons, tapes and. similar coiled articles, saidcontainer having a body portion defining a closed compartment for thecoiled articles, said compartment including a hinged supporting panelfor theterminal portion of-said coiled article, a hinged closure flapfor the container. carried by said body portion, said support-. ingpanel being arranged to immedately underlie said closure. flap in the.closed position thereof, a transverse slot in said supporting panel atone end thereof allowing protrusion of the terminal portion of saidcoiled article to reach. and over-.

lie the top of the supporting panel for substantially the full length ofsaid panel, a window opening in said closure flap, a longitudinal slotin said supporting panel adjacent the line of the hinge of said panel,and an integral extension on said closure flap on an edge of said flapremote from its hinge releasably engageable in said 1011- gitudinal slotof said supporting panel.

2. A container for ribbons, tapes and similar coiled articles, saidcontainer having walls clef ning a closed compartment for the coiledarticles, one end of the container having a pair of hinged overlappingflaps, one of said flaps being an integral, hinged extension of one ofthe walls of the container, the second flap being an in tegral, hingedextension of a second wall, the inner flap being notched at one of itsends to permit a terminal of the coiled article to project and overliethe face of the inner flap for substantially the full length of theinner flap, the outer hinged flap being extended over said terminal andcovering the same for substantially its full length, said outer flap,having a window opening covered with a transparentv material throughwhich a substantial portion or the terminal of the coiled article isvisible, the ii flap having a slot along its hinge and the outer flaphaving a tab at its free end. entering said slot to thereby hold the twoflaps in overlying relation with the terminal of the QQ led articlesand;v wiched between them.

GE BQE EWALD.

REFERENCES orrnn The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES. PAT NTS Number Name. Date.

1,112,662 Gardner M Sept. 2.9,. 19. 1,901,036 Kink-cad Mar, 14, 18332,276,296 Flood Mar. 17, 19.43: 2,295,242 Slingsby Sept. 19. 2 2,341,368Flood Feb. 8, 194-" FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 468,919 GreatBritain J uly- 15, 193'?

